Together Again
by hearthandhomeauthor
Summary: The entire gang comes together for a Christmas party at C.D.'s and Katheryn receives a special surprise from Carlos. ONE-SHOT


**_"Together Again"_**

C.D. had just given the wall clock above the bar a quick, glaring once-over as it struck the six o-clock hour in the evening and already he realized it was going to be a very long night as more of their friends kept pouring into the restaurant. Secretly, he wished Lilly Anne hadn't insisted upon a meowing Christmas clock to hang above the bar over the course of the Christmas season. Lilly Anne was a good girl. About five feet tall and just about into her second year of college. C.D. loved having that little gal around. But sometimes she had some fanciful ideas that went right over the semi-retired Ranger's head.

With a shake of his head as he listened to the chiming kittens belting out a rhythm of "Jingle Bells" that didn't quite mesh with the King of country's holiday renditions, C.D. picked up two plates of Christmas goodies and ambled over to the vast table he had set up for them all in the middle of the restaurant. Ever since Katheryn Beaumont had come into their lives, she was hard set on not letting any of their closest friends miss at least one holiday meal together before they all went their separate ways to celebrate with other family.

At the far end of the table closest to the door sat Walker. It was only appropriate that he hold the honored seat while Alex sat to his left on the right. Beside her was Josie Martin followed by Katheryn, Carlos, Teresa, Jesse, Trent, Molly and Tommy completed that side of the table. Butch McMann joined them for the first time this year for their Christmas celebrations, securing the opposite end of the head of the table. To his left was Mrs. Malloy, Tandy, Tyler, Pastor Roscoe, Gage, Sydney, and Trivette. Two chairs were empty on either side of the table once C.D. sat down. Kim Sutter quickly entered, issuing various apologies as she slipped into the chair next to Tommy while the one by Mrs. Malloy next to Butch would hopefully be occupied by Ranger Bobbie Hunt if she would make it back in time from a bust she was scheduled to be a part of that afternoon.

Meanwhile, everyone remained caught up in the cheer of the moment, laughing and carrying on with various conversations with the family and friends that surrounded them.

"Well, Cordell," C.D. sighed as he rested in the chair with Walker to his left and Jimmy on his right. He shifted his gaze between the two Rangers with a smile. "This is some Christmas celebration I tell you."

"It sure is, C.D.," Walker agreed, glancing over the faces at the table with a smile before Alex touched him on the arm, smiling also. He leaned in closer to her to listen.

"I almost feel like a proud mother," Alex whispered.

Walker wrinkled his forehead. "What do you mean?"

Alex nodded towards Katheryn and Carlos. "Well, for starters, aren't they such a cute couple?"

"Alex," Walker glared her way. "We've been over this before."

"It doesn't matter now, Walker. They are pretty close to engaged now. I'm not matchmaking. I'm simply stating the facts."

"Pretty close and are would be two different things, Alex."

"True. But didn't you say Carlos has been taking extra time away from the firm lately?"

"Yeah." Walker laughed gently to himself. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's probably been out shopping for a ring."

Walker shook his head, not allowing himself to believe one bit of this. "Alex, if you keep meddling, they may plan an elopement."

Alex swatted him on the arm. "Just you wait and see."

"Okay!" Walker smiled, surrendering with a lift of his hands.

"So how's the private investigating going these days, you two?" C.D. called across the table to Trent and Carlos, halting the conversations temporarily.

Trent lifted his head to face C.D., half recovering from a laugh as a broad smile still played around on his face. "It's going well," he finally spoke, clearing his throat to suppress his laughter as Carlos' joke still hung around in his mind. "We still have a good bit of money from the Lopiado reward at our disposal…"

"That is," Carlos interrupted, casting a harsh glare over to Trent. "We would have a great dividend of the funds left if somebody would not have needed two big rigs for an undercover job last week."

"Hey," Trent immediately defended himself. "It worked didn't it?!"

"Yeah," Carlos nodded sort of sheepishly and quickly, or rather quite conveniently as he remembered that he had a special something for Katheryn he had nearly forgotten about.

Trent rolled his eyes and turned towards Butch who had a question for him now while Carlos fumbled around in his inside coat pocket for a small box that he slipped out for nearly everyone to see. Alex's eyes widened nearly as big as a canyon as she turned to Walker almost to say that she had told him so when Carlos simply handed the item to Katheryn.

"Merry Christmas," Carlos whispered and kissed Katheryn on the cheek. "I hope you like it."

With a sly smile of her own, Katheryn removed the lid from the small box to see what appeared to be a picture frame on the inside. A light gasp from her lips slowly quieted down the conversation around the two love birds as most of them turned to see what had caused Katheryn's immediate dose of shock.

"Is this…?" Kath's words trailed off as she looked up to Carlos.

He nodded to answer her unasked question before she could speak anymore. "Last month just after I came back from the camping trip over at Lake Welch with Alex, I spoke with a gentleman who recently acquired a ton of artifacts from the Paradise Trail journey. He bought this from a museum in Salt Lake City and was going to sell it to the Ranger Museum. But I asked if I could buy it from him. On about the fifth trip to his house, I convinced him."

"I don't know what to say." Katheryn struggled for words and sniffed away a few joyful tears as she looked up into Carlos' smiling face once more and looked back at the antiquated framed photo in her hands. In the corner of the yellowed portrait was written the words _Charlotte Brazos and child – 1876_. After a quick kiss and another bundle of thank-yous, Katheryn still couldn't take her eyes off of the gift. And it took everything within her to package the item back up and set it on the floor beside her. Needless to say, she had a hard time focusing on the rest of the evening as she imagined how the photograph had come into being—something she'd be sure to investigate further into as soon as she found the time.

* * *

 ** _I hope you all enjoyed this brief respite from my usual series to visit the entire gang at Christmastime-something I wish we could have seen in real life in the SOT world. Meanwhile, I wrote this piece last Christmas but wanted to save it for posting until I reached the point in the WTR timeline this scene was set in. Confession, I decided to post it anyway although it is set farther in the future than my current series sometime after the last episode of SOT. I just couldn't resist! As always thanks for reading and reviewing. Merry Christmas to you all! And here's to a great new year! God Bless, 'Kath'_**


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